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Solo Virtual Exhibition My Prospective Retrospective at the Guggenheim (Abridged) — a smattering of forty years of selected work (1984-2024) by LR Altman


  • Gallery 2727 (Virtual) 2727 California Street Berkeley, CA, 94703 United States (map)

My Prospective Retrospective at the Guggenheim (Abridged)

— a smattering of forty years of selected work (1984-2024) by LR Altman

Dedicated to my father, Robert Leon Altman, who rather unkindly, I thought, would ask: “What are you doing with your life?” And then scoffed when I explained: “Working on my prospective retrospective at the Guggenheim."

Still working on it.

    1. Self Portrait (undergraduate painting course with Joan Brown at UC Berkeley)
      1984, paint, canvas, 26 x 46 inches, NFS

    2. Dance Down the Walls (Pilgrim Glass, Ceredo West Virginia)
      1988, cameo glass, 15 x 6 inches, NFS

    3. Empty Spaces (Pukesberg Glassbruk)
      1990, blown glass, 110.24 x 78.74 x 43.31 inches, Stolen

    4. Prince Charming. . . (after the ball)
      1993, blown glass on velvet pillow, 1.77 x 2.99 x 8.5 inches, Price available upon request

    5. Volume≥ 60 LITERS? (60 liters ladled and rolled)
      1994, 1 liter ladle, hand rolled glass, aprons, light, variable size installation, NFS (nonextant)

    6. Volume/Volume (sixty-page book about my search to understand how much space I take up, cut and rolled into one-liter cylinders arranged on a table defining 60 liters of empty space
      1994, paper, wood, 120 liters + chair, Price available upon request

    7. Gathering Data for the 3rd Moment (V3) charting the recording of the volume (amplitude) of my voice reading from the (textual) volume describing both the (physical) volume and narrative about my search to determine how much space I take up.
      1995, rebuilt “Volumeter,” data, paper, 64 inches tall, Price available upon request

    8. Ears on Wall (from the walls have ears series)
      1996, cast glass, tape, graphite text, wall, 17 x 14 x 3 inches, NFS (nonextant)

    9. “Yud” (detail from Shema Installation of carved Palestinian and Israeli Soap)
      1997, soap, 7 x 4 x 4 inches (from larger installation), Price available upon request

    10. Diet
      1997, wooden mold, glycerin soap, carved (with my favorite ice cream spoon) to be the ideal size of my body indicated in BMI charts, Approx. 120 liters (give or take a few spoons), NFS (nonextant)

    11. From the Food Pyramid (created by the FDA to guide pregnant and lactating American women)
      1999, kiln cast glass, Life size, Price available upon request

    12. Make Art, Addison Street Scape, Berkeley California
      2000, cast concrete, bricks, Approx. 10 x 10 feet, NFS (public art located on Addison Street near Shattuck, Berkeley)

    13. Floating Heads, Palace of Legion of Honor (temporary installation), 2004, paper mache, 9.25 x 13 x 12 inches each, Sold

    14. Praise the Children and They Will Grow
      2004, glass, ceramic, concrete step inserts, 84 x 54 x 20 inches, NFS (Public art located at Santa Clara Central Park Library Children's Garden)

    15. Chrysalis, temporary installation, Luther Burbank Center, Santa Rosa
      2005, sintered glass, refractory, 1 x 8 x 2.25 feet, nonextant

    16. Empty head #2 (Rabbi sculpted in the Rodin Room, Palace of Legion of Honor)
      2006, kiln fired sintered glass, 7 x 8 x 9 inches, $1,200

    17. Fairy Music Farm, Children’s Fairyland, Oakland
      2008, Lead artist for attraction including a narrative, musical instruments, murals, a theme song, landscaping, terrazzo courtyard, seating, gates, lighting, NFS (Public art located at Children’s Fairyland, Oakland

    18. Reflector Head, from “Heads on Posts" project restoring bike parking to decapitated meter poles
      2012, stained concrete with reclaimed bicycle reflector, 6 x 6 x 8 inches, NFS (stolen)

    19. Don't Label Me Shirt (2012)
      2012, textile, 23 x14 inches, $475

    20. Phantom (sugar) feet Installation detail
      2013, granulated sugar, Life size, $200 each

    21. Edible Plant Mural, John Muir School (lead artist)
      2014, acrylic paint on masonry, 120 linear feet, John Muir School, Claremont Avenue (at Ashby), Berkeley

    22. First Aid for Artists and Other Wounded Souls
      2014, medicinal objects, medicine cabinet, 24 x 24 x 7 inches, $2,000

    23. Together (Incompatible Glass Fused Together)
      2017, kiln fired sintered glass, 13.78 x 20.87 inches, Price available upon request

    24. Offering to my Enemy
      2019,  acrylic on acid free paper, 36 x 48 inches, $2,500

    25. Emo chART (2021)
      2022, crowd sourced emotions, kiln cast glass, window screen, thread, wood, video projection (music by Richard Jennings), 7 x 4.3 feet x 5 inches deep, NFS

    26. Safe Sleep Campaign of American Individualism
      2021, acrylic and stitching on unstretched canvas, 14 x 10 inches, $390

    27. VIII Of Cups (Reversed) 21-869 (based on tarot card by Pixie (Pamela Coleman Smith)                and 21-869 US Supreme Court ruling on the fair use of other peoples’ art)
      2023, acrylic on stretched canvas, 6 x 4 feet, $2,700

    28. Golden Rule
      2024, kiln cast glass, 4 x 8 x .75 inches, $1,200

I am deeply grateful for the support of 2727 California Street organization and artists and especially for Matthew Felix Sun for envisioning and pulling together this virtual show.

Numerous artists have guided my journey. Their impact is woven through my life and shapes my work.

Thank you:

  • Joan Brown for introducing me to painting as a narrative art form and teaching that everything an artist paints is a self-portrait (1984)

  • John Leighton and Michael Schmidt for teaching me how to handle hot glass at SFSU (1978-1986)

  • The Creative Glass Center of America and David Lepla for opening up the world of kiln cast glass to me (1986)

  • Kelsey Murphy, my art director at Pilgrim Glass, for teaching me how to live (art first) (1987-1989)

  • Eva Englund and John Ford, for teaching me glass engraving and how to see light, Nybro Sweden (1990-1991)

  • Sharon Siskin, for exposing me to community based art (1992)

  • Chandra Cerritto, for accompanying me on my 30-year art journey through abstract, public, representational, figurative, social practice, and “I am never making art again” phases (1992-present)

  • Clifford Rainey, CCAC Glass Department head, for sharing his invaluable kiln casting skills and forcing me to defend and strengthen my commitment to “personal” art (1993)

  • Lewis DeSoto, for understanding and supporting my spiritual experience of art making (1994)

  • Claudia Tennyson, Harrell Fletcher, Paula L Levine, Sue Marks, Susan Sumida, and Ted Purves for helping develop a form of relationship sculpture that has evolved into what we now commonly call “social practice” (1992-1996)

  • Peter Allen, for being my greatest art fan, technical supporter, best competitor, and for sharing a life with me (1994-present)

  • Public Glass, San Francisco, for providing me a job and a place to art (1998-2000)

  • The City of Berkeley for opening the gates of Public Art to me (2000) and supporting EmoChART project (2021)

  • Scott Donahue for being my public art mentor and challenging me to try representational figure sculpting and teaching and exposing me to multi-part mold making (2000-present)

  • David Ruth, for helping me to develop sintered glass kiln techniques and to think big (2000-2013)

  • Other artists I shared space with at David Ruth’s Oakland studio including Warren (Daniel) Warren, John Mulkins, and David Condon (who mentored me through my concrete casting journey) (2000-2013)

  • Donna K. Ozawa for inviting me to participate in The Art Health Fair, Oakland Museum of California (2003)

  • Musical composer Richard Jennings, for being a fantastic collaborative partner, Fairy Music Farm (2008) and EmoChART (2021)

  • Elin Christopherson for generously inviting me into the world of glass enameling (2018)

  • The amazing artists I met at The Crucible, including Barbara Barnette, my co-department head and creative companion through the landscape of glass kiln forming (2013-2023)

  • Chris Miles for inspiring me to return to representational and narrative art painting (2022)

  • William Cricket Ulrich, Anne A Wong, Kaytea Petro, CJ, Denise, and the many others who explore glass painting with me in my Berkeley Studio (2023-present)

And to the all of the art, artists, plants, friends, collectors, institutions, arts professionals, animals, and the financial, structural, material, chemical, and physical resources and energies that sustain my practice, THANK YOU! I would be a blubbering inconsolable lump of organic matter without you.

— LR Altman

If you are interested in purchasing the art showcased in this online exhibition, please send an email to gallery@2727.today with the subject "Interest in Purchase". Please include the title of the piece and the artist's name in your email. We are also happy to provide more information about the artist and put you in contact with them for further inquiries.

The prices and the artwork's availability might change after the show. Please contact gallery@2727.today for updated information.

— 2727 Artist Co-op

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Artist Talk and Closing Reception
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December 4

Sacred Music Session: Klezmer with Mike Perlmutter